Halehaven Loans handles the phone call, and a funding partner sets any terms.
A machine shop, fabricator, food producer or printer in Ames, IA can finance used or new CNC machines, welders, packaging lines, lab instruments and forklifts, buy raw stock, or cover operator payroll. Building systems, cranes and dock work are outside this site.
At a glance
- Manufacturing establishments with paid staff, Story County, IA
74 (CBP 2023, NAICS 31-33)
- Share of those with fewer than five employees
27.0% (CBP 2023)
- Manufacturing establishments, ZIP 50010
32 (ZBP 2023)
- Fabricated metal product manufacturing, county
14 establishments with paid staff (CBP 2023, NAICS 332)
Used CNC machine financing in Ames, IA: second shifts, operator hiring and training
A used CNC machine is the purchase that lets a shop add a second shift without doubling its machine budget. Dealers sell vertical machining centers, CNC lathes and wire EDM machines that come off another shop’s floor, with hours on the control and a record of service. A partner reviewing the request may ask for the dealer’s invoice, the serial number, the control hours and the rigging and delivery quote.
Illustration only, invented figures. The dealer’s price on a used vertical machining center is $96,500, with $10,500 of it covered from the shop’s own cash. Financing the $86,000 balance for 72 months at 8.75% a year puts the payment at $1,539.55. After all 72 payments the shop has paid $110,847.60, $24,847.60 of it interest.
The second shift also needs people. With invented figures again: 2 new operators paid $1,040 a week each through 6 weeks of training cost $12,480 before either one runs parts alone. Working capital can cover that stretch, separate from the machine agreement.
CNC machine financing for Story County, IA: pallet racking, forklifts and tool holders
Around each machine sits the gear that keeps parts moving: pallet racking for bar stock and finished parts, a forklift or a pallet jack, tool holders, collets, vises and a tool presetter. All of it is movable equipment. Anything fixed to the building, such as rails mounted on the structure or work at the loading dock, is building work outside this site.
A shop that adds a CNC machine can need the rest of that list too, so equipment financing can cover the machine and its tooling package on one quote.
For Story County, Iowa, County Business Patterns counts 74 manufacturing establishments (NAICS 31-33) with paid employees in 2023, and 27.0% of them had fewer than five employees.
Manufacturing equipment loans for Story County, IA: press brakes, welders and fiber lasers
Sheet metal and fabrication shops buy machines that bend, cut and join: press brakes, shears, ironworkers, fiber laser cutters, MIG and TIG welders, welding positioners and fixture tables. Each is quoted with its tooling and controls.
A larger purchase that mixes a press brake, a welder and a forklift from different vendors can be compared as a term loan with one fixed payment. Air lines piped through the shop and any upgrade to the building’s power supply belong to the building, outside this site.
Fabricated metal product manufacturing (NAICS 332), the group that includes machine shops, had 14 establishments with employees in the county in 2023, 4 of them with fewer than five, according to County Business Patterns. Nonemployer Statistics counts 5 businesses in the same code with no paid employees for 2024.
Machine shop financing for Story County, IA: packaging machines, labelers and shrink tunnels
Food producers, printers and other makers that sell packaged goods can finance the end of the line: case erectors, fillers, labelers, shrink tunnels, bag sealers, checkweighers and inkjet date coders. A machine shop that ships kits uses some of the same machines.
Packaging film, labels, cartons and raw ingredients are stock. Buying a large lot of them ahead of a production run is an inventory financing question, while the machines that use them stay on equipment financing.
Two smaller codes sit inside the county manufacturing count. Food manufacturing (NAICS 311) shows 12 establishments with paid employees in 2023, 3 of them with fewer than five. Printing and related support activities (NAICS 323) shows 9.
Business loan to buy machinery in Ames, IA: quality lab gear, gauges and inspection tables
Quality control is equipment too. Lab instruments for a manufacturer include coordinate measuring machines, optical comparators, hardness testers, surface roughness testers, height gauges, granite inspection tables and calibration sets. Test rigs for pressure, load or electrical checks are built or bought for one product line and priced as a project.
- Vendor quotes with model and serial numbers.
- Recent business bank statements and financial statements.
- A list of the machines already on the floor.
- Customer purchase orders that the new gear will help fill.
- Calibration or service records for used instruments.
In ZIP 50010, ZIP Code Business Patterns shows 32 manufacturing establishments with paid staff for 2023. A separate 2024 Nonemployer Statistics count puts 76 manufacturing businesses in Story County, Iowa that have no employees.
For banks, credit unions and online lenders around Ames side by side, see the Ames, IA page. Builders, landscapers and auto repair shops share the trades group on the industries page.
By Halehaven Loans · Updated
